Visiting Lyme - information correct at February 2005
Make sure you visit the museum. As well as the fascinating displays
of local fossil discoveries, there is a section devoted to Fowles, who was for several
years the curator. This section includes the manuscript of page one of FLW, complete
with Fowles's handwritten alterations and additions. Nothing is in this novel
by chance!
Walk out on the cobb; be warned that the top path is very exposed and
not safe in high winds or stormy conditions - several people have fallen off and
been injured in recent years. MGM would not risk Meryl Streep herself standing
at the end of the cobb and it is not her in the cape in the distance shots in the film.
Walk west onto the undercliff - preferably with a map of the area
purchased from the museum. Very soon you will get a sense of having left the
busy world of affairs and escaped into nature. Trees and the sounds
of birdsong and the sea are the overwhelming sensations.The rundown buildings on the left labelled
Private - Underhill Farm - are the dairy in the novel. Fowles lived here and
Jeremy Irons stayed with him here during the filming.
When you walk back to the town, note the large house opposite the car
park that you walk through. This house - Belmont - is where Fowles lives
now.You may even glimpse the famous man!
In Broad Street, look out for the Victorian fronted bookshop; the owner
left it as recreated for the filming. You may also spot the hotel - The
Three Cuppes - sadly empty -
where Charles opens a bay sash window in the film. Aunt Tranter's was also in Broad
Street.
On your drive back to Bournemouth, note that you are very near to many
of the locations featured in Tess of the d'Urbervilles.
For example, Wool station is possibly the station that Angel and Tess took the
milk to. Talbothays was in this area of Dorset - the valley of the Froom or Var
river, with its lush meadows, flooded in winter.
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